Meet me in the middle, said the unjust man.
A.R. Moxon (@JuliusGoat)
I took a step toward him. He took a step back.
Meet me in the middle, said the unjust man.
When I first saw this on FB, I thought it a clever way of phrasing what unilateral compromise does – it favors the unjust. It favors those who, in fact, never intended to change their stance. But then, I realized, that there was a bit more to it than those three lines. So, I played with it:
Meet me in the middle, said the unjust man.
I took a step toward him. He took a step back.
Meet me in the middle, said the unjust man.
I took a step toward him. He took a step back.
And when I’d taken enough steps, the people said,
See! There’s no difference between them!
And I realized that they were right,
though he looked as far away as ever.
This is why I think that the DNC is wrong in pushing for a moderate – the distinction between the parties gets lost. Oh, there’s no doubt that any Democrat would be better than Trump (and I will vote that way) but with the Democrats having compromised, over and over again, it is too easy for people to say that there is no difference between the parties any more and, thus, no real choice to be made. Might as will just flip a coin.
I don’t believe you’re ever going to change the minds of the Trumpistas – the hard core ones, anyway – and there are always going to be people for whom the word socialism is a perjorative. These people aren’t making choices or, if they are, they are choosing a fascist – a racist, sexist, homophobic asshole – because they want to live in that kind of world. Frankly, though, I don’t think there are really that many people who are that far gone.
And there are, to be sure, neo-liberals – those people who don’t want to rein in big business (because that might hurt their portfolios) but want to salve their conscience with a little social justice. They think the DNC is doing just fine and, frankly, I don’t think they really care if the Democrats lose in November.
No, the people for whom differences matter are those who are willing to think. Who vacilate (or might once have) between liberal and conservative. If they can’t see any difference between the two sides then their vote becomes a crapshoot. How are they feeling that particular election day? What was the last political message they heard that resonated with them?
Some may think that such ‘swing voters’ don’t exist, that there are simply people that sit out some elections, throwing the balance of power one way or another. But why would they do that unless they think their votes don’t matter? And (at least of late) they almost always think that way because they can’t see any difference between the two sides. (Even if it exists. Sometimes subtleties get lost.)
But in the end, does it really matter? The problem comes down to who shows up and which side to the pull the lever for. Whether they flip a coin or stay at home, it’s still for the same reason – they can’t see enough of a difference. If the Democrats want to win in November, they have to show the voters that their choice matters – whether it’s who they vote for or whether or not they stay home – and a moderate won’t cut it.